This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Ontario’s integrity commissioner has reprimanded former Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown for “deliberately” failing to disclose rental income and a $375,000 loan on his sprawling Lake Simcoe home.

But J. David Wake cleared Brown of any wrongdoing over questions of whether he accepted free trips, which was among the concerns raised in the complaint filed by Tory MPP Randy Hillier.

Former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown leaves the party’s head offices in Toronto on Feb. 20, 2018, just days after he entered the race to get back his old job. Brown abandoned his comeback attempt a few days later. (Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Hillier called it a “pretty condemning report overall,” but expressed hope it would not be used as campaign fodder in the June 7 election.

“It is my sincere hope that the government will recognize that such debate ought to be about the integrity of our institution and not be used for partisan electioneering purposes,” added the Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington MPP.

For his part, Brown said he is “glad this matter is now closed.”

Wake recommended the former leader be censured, noting the Barrie-area MPP is not running again and “in the course of the inquiry, he admitted to the breaches.”

“I accept the reprimand and apologize for not disclosing my limited rental income and temporary second mortgage,” Brown said on Twitter.

The former leader expressed satisfaction that “there was no evidence” he “accepted or failed to disclose gifts of travel.”

Article Continued Below

Wake found Brown committed the breaches over 2016 and 2017, and said while the loan came from then-Brampton North candidate Jass Johal, “I could not find on the evidence before me that Mr. Brown did anything to influence the outcome of the nomination process in that riding.”

Johal has since been disqualified as a Tory candidate.

In his 59-page report, Wake wrote, “I can say categorically that if I had been made aware of this loan that I would have included it in Mr. Brown’s public disclosure statement for each of 2016 and 2017.

“When the leader of a political party is substantially indebted to a candidate for election as an MPP for that party, the interests of transparency require that the indebtedness be made known so that people have an appropriate context to assess the relationship between the leader and the candidate,” he continued.

“Simply put, the public has a right to know.”

The integrity commissioner initially wrote to Brown looking for information after a Star story raised questions about how the former leader could afford the upscale lakefront property on Shanty Bay. The Globe and Mail later revealed the Johal loan.

Brown stepped down as leader on Jan. 25, after CTV news alleged sexual impropriety with two young women. He has denied the accusations and is suing the network, which stands by its story, for $8 million.

He is not seeking re-election and now sits as an Independent MPP, though he is rarely seen at Queen’s Park.

Doug Ford will lead the Tories into the June 7 election.

Ford himself has plans to meet with the integrity commissioner to discuss how to handle his family business, which he will do, as required, in the next couple of weeks, said a spokesperson.

“The meeting has been scheduled and he will comply with all the requirements,” said Melanie Paradis.

As for the findings on Brown, the PC party said it “is focused on the future and delivering relief to the hard-working people of Ontario.”

Wake said Brown’s most serious breaches of the Members’ Integrity Act were related to the loan, which he did not initially disclose.

“On all the evidence, I found that the non-disclosure of the loan, as with the rental income, was deliberate, and not through inadvertence.”

He also admonished Brown for the “multiple breaches” that “only came to light following Mr. Brown’s resignation as leader,” not as a “voluntary disclosure prior to this complaint having been made.”

“This report serves as a reminder to all members that they should take their disclosure obligations under section 20 of the act seriously.”

Brown took out a $1.7 million mortgage on the $2.3 million, five-bedroom home, and borrowed money from Johal.

His mother has since helped him out financially, making two interest payments to Johal totalling $8,000, the report said.

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com